The Fear Within
by ChristineDC
Summary: Billy has developed a fear of water. Will this fear keep him from saving his best friend?


_Disclaimer: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and character names from which were trademarks of Saban and now Disney (or whomever bought the rights). All original characters and creatures belong to me.  
  
Author's Note: All Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Next Generation stories take place in the present with a new team of Rangers. Billy is the only original Ranger to be on the team, though other Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers will probably appear in future stories. All of the original weapons and Zords (though improved) are in these stories. The only things different are the villians and the Ranger's leader. I will post up the character profiles for the new team later on if anyone wishes to see them.  
_  
**Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Next Generation "The Fear Within"** By Christine Coulter  
  
Sometimes after something traumatic has happened to someone, they develop a sudden fear of it, a phobia. Like if a dog attacks a child, that child will often fear dogs the rest of his or her life. A fear so consuming that they will do anything to avoid going near the thing they fear.  
Billy had never really feared water. Sure, he once had been afraid of fish, but that phobia had passed many years ago; but after spending the past 8 years on Aquitar, a planet covered entirely by water, only to find out that the inhabitants of the planet, people Billy had thought were his friends, and the woman whom he had thought he would spend the rest of his life with, were in fact evil, and then having almost been killed by the woman he loved, it caused terrible memories to flood into his head whenever he thought about water. He hadn't been near a lake or the ocean since his return to earth, and avoided watching programs that featured water of any kind. So when his friends, his fellow Power Rangers, asked if he wanted to join them surfing, Billy at first refused.  
"No, I don't think so," he said, after Randy, the black Ranger, as well as a major surfing buff, had brought the subject up after the Rangers' band 'Power Team' had finished up their afternoon gig at The Club. "But you guys go ahead. I'll just hang out here." Billy tried to hide that he had become uncomfortable.  
"Ah, come on, Dude! It's gonna totally rock! I haven't been surfing in forever," Randy said, running his hands through his spiky blond hair.  
"Randy, you just went surfing a few weeks ago, remember?" Josh, the handsome red Ranger pointed out.  
"Yeah, well, I have lack-of-surfing-decease, alright. I have to be out on the waves as often as possible. If I don't, I'll like die."  
"Plus, he wants to scope out the girls in bikinis, as well," the yellow Ranger Jennifer joked.  
"I'm sorry, guys, but I'm just not up for surfing." Billy hadn't told them his fear of water, knowing they would probably think it was stupid.  
"Oh, come on Billy," Samantha, Billy's best friend, said, looking into his bright green eyes. "It will be fun."  
"Look, I'm not stopping you guys from going, and I don't want to ruin your day, so go on without me. I'll be fine, I promise."  
"You're sure?" Megan asked.  
"Positive. Besides, Zeldon might need my help with something, and I want to be here just in case."  
"Alright, man. Miss out on all the fun. We'll catch you later."  
The others headed for the exit, but stopped when they saw that Samantha wasn't coming.  
"Hey, Sam, aren't you coming?" Megan asked.  
"Nah. I think I'll just stay here with Billy, if you guys don't mind," Samantha said. Billy could here the disappointment in her voice.  
"Sam, it's alright if you go, you know. You don't have to stay behind with me," Billy said, though he knew she would never go without him. They had been inseparable since Samantha had managed to break the spell Alagor had placed on Billy that had made him evil.  
"It won't be any fun without you, though." Samantha said truthfully, because even though she did really want to go surfing, she knew she would just be thinking about Billy not being there the entire time. She just couldn't stand being away from him. Samantha woke up with a grin on her face everyday now, knowing that she would get to see Billy; see his beautiful green eyes that made her feel all warm and tingly inside, the eyes that went so perfectly with his ear-length blond hair and his beautiful red lips; she would get to hear his angelic voice and his wonderful laugh and see his breathtaking smile that made her heart stop...  
She felt herself blushing while she was looking at Billy and thinking about this. She turned her gaze away and hoped that he hadn't noticed. She had to admit that her feelings for him had become more than just that of friendship. She had always thought he was cute, especially with his cute little glasses-_Stop it!_ she told herself, wiping away the huge smile that had appeared on her face-but now, just thinking about Billy made her want to start giggling madly. She had never felt this way about anyone, but knew she could never tell him. Why? Because she knew he wouldn't feel the same. He could have any girl he wanted, so why would he go for an ugly, plain girl like herself? She knew she was lucky to just have him as a friend, and she didn't want to throw that away by telling him how she really felt.  
These feelings made it hard for Samantha to be around Elnia, who was Billy's daughter from the future. For every time Samantha saw Elnia, she would think that she was Billy's daughter with someone else, meaning that obviously Billy would one day meet this woman and fall in love with her. Samantha thought it was weird how Elnia never mentioned her mother's name, but then thought it was probably because Elnia figured she would hate whomever it was when and if they ever met, and Samantha knew she was right. She couldn't help but not like the person who would win Billy's heart and take him away from her forever.  
Billy saw the sad look Samantha had on her face, but not knowing what was really going on in her head, thought it was just because she wasn't going to go surfing. Billy hated to see Samantha upset, so despite his anxiety about going near water, he decided to go ahead and accompany them to the beach.  
"Alright, I'll come with you guys, but I'll just stay on the beach while you do the surfing." And while this hadn't been the reason Samantha had been looking so sad, she did get a big smile on her face when he said this.  
"You mean it? You're coming?" she said, realizing how much she sounded like a kid who had just received a treat.  
"Yeah, I'm coming."  
"Yes! Oh, thank you so much Billy," Samantha hugged him. Now she would get to go surfing without having to leave Billy.  
Everyone gathered their beach gear from their apartments and drove out to the beach in Josh's Jeep. While the others got ready to swim out to catch some waves, Billy found a nice comfortable spot under a tree near the sand. He was close enough to the water to see everyone swimming out, but not so close that he felt afraid. He knew there was nothing in the waters here, no evil aliens that would jump out and get him; there weren't even any sharks, for it was a shark-free zone; but it still reminded him of the waters of Aquitar. He wanted to keep his eyes on Samantha just incase, but to block out the sound of the waves at least, he pulled out his portable CD player and put on the headphones to listen to his favorite band.  
While this was the not the first time Samantha had gone surfing, it took her a little while to get up on her board, which was light purple with blue stripes, her two favorite colors, which matched her wetsuit. She didn't wear bikinis, for she didn't like showing all that skin, plus it always felt to her like she was walking around in her underwear, which is something she would never do out in public. After a while, though, she was finally able to stay up on her board for a decent amount of time. Whenever she fell off, Randy, with his perfect surfer moves, would always laugh at her, which would cause her to throw water in his face.  
Samantha was rather enjoying herself, but when she looked up at the beach and saw Billy sitting beneath the tree all alone, she decided to take a break and go up and sit with him.  
"I'm going to head back to the beach, guys," she told the others who were resting on their boards. Samantha began swimming back to shore.  
Up on the beach, Billy saw Bulk and Skull walking toward him, caring towels and a beach umbrella.  
"Hey Bulky, look who it is," Skull said, spotting Billy.  
"Oh, hey guys," Billy said as they came over to him. They had actually been getting along quite well since Billy had come back to Angel Grove. It helped that Samantha was rather fond of the two. Bulk and Skull hadn't changed much since Billy had last seen them, though they did seem to be less annoying.  
"So, where's your little girlfriend Samantha?" Bulk asked as Skull looked for a place to set up the umbrella. Skull turned and hit Bulk in the back of the head with it. At first Bulk ignored it, but when Skull hit him with it again, he grabbed the umbrella and smacked Skull on the top of the head with it, who fell over stunned.  
"Guys, she's not my girlfriend," Billy said, blushing. "And she's out there surfing with the others." He pointed at the ocean where he saw Samantha swimming back to shore.  
"So you haven't asked her out yet?" Skull asked, getting to his feet and rubbing his sore head.  
"No...I mean, why would I ask her out? She's just my friend."  
"Oh, come on Billy Boy, we know you like her. But if you don't ask her out, I will." Skull sprayed some breath spray in his mouth, which Billy had seen him do a lot around Kimberly when they had been in school.  
"Look, I just..." Billy stopped when he saw Samantha. She appeared to not be moving.  
Samantha had almost made it to shore when suddenly her foot got caught in some coral. She tried to pull her foot out, but it was stuck tight.  
"Hey Billy," she called, "could you come give me a hand..." Just then, she felt herself begin to be pulled under by a change in the ocean current, and the water rushed over her head. "Hey, somebody help me!" She sputtered as she managed to come up for air. She was pulled under again and began to panic. "Help!"  
Billy saw what was happening and ran to her, but the moment his feet touched the edge of the water, he froze. He couldn't get his feet to move, and it was as if some unseen force was keeping him from saving Samantha. He began to breathe heavily, like he was having an anxiety attack. He was so close to Samantha, could see her struggling to get free and keep her head above water, but he couldn't go to her.  
"Hey Billy, what's happening? Why aren't you doing anything?" Josh called, who had seen what was going on. When Billy still didn't move, the other Rangers began to swim to Samantha as fast as they could, but knew they were too far away to reach her in time.  
Billy fell to the ground as Bulk and Skull pushed pass him and ran into the ocean. Billy watched as they were able to pull Samantha free and carried her back to shore. She was coughing and rather pale, but she didn't seem to be severely hurt. The other Rangers made it to shore and ran to her.  
"Samantha, are you okay?" Megan gasped, rapping her arms around her shaking friend.  
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Thank you so much guys," Samantha said to Bulk and Skull, who puffed up their chests to show how proud they were of themselves.  
Josh, after making sure that Samantha was indeed okay, turned his attention to Billy, who was still lying on the ground covered in sand.  
"Hey, what was your problem, man?" he said, anger sounding in his voice. "Why didn't you do something? Samantha could have drowned!" He grabbed Billy by his shirt and pulled him roughly to his feet.  
"I don't know what happened. I just froze," Billy said, still trying to calm his breathing. He tried to back away from the water, but Josh held him still.  
"You froze?! What type of lame excuse is that?!" He probably would have punched Billy, but Samantha's voice stopped him.  
"Josh, don't!" she said, running toward them. "It wasn't Billy's fault."  
"Wasn't his fault?! He was standing right there and did nothing!"  
"Josh, please! I'm fine. Just let Billy go." Josh hesitated, his face red with anger, but he finally let go of Billy's shirt.  
"Alright, fine. But let me say this-You ought to be glad Samantha cares about you, or else you would be the one having to be rescued." Josh stormed off to his Jeep. "Come on Samantha, we need to get you some place warm," he called as he started the engine.  
Samantha let the others get ahead of her as they all headed for the Jeep so she could talk to Billy without them hearing.  
"Billy, are you okay?" she said, her green eyes showing more concern for him than they had for herself. "I saw how pale you got when you were near the water, just before my head went under again. Is there something you'd like to tell me?"  
"I didn't want to say anything before, because I hoped I would have gotten over my fear before anyone found out..."  
"Your fear? You're afraid of water? Why didn't you say something?"  
"Because it's stupid! I wasn't afraid of water before I went to Aquitar. But now, even when I just hear water, I think about what happened to me while I was there. Because of some stupid thing like that, you almost died." Billy looked as though he were about to start crying.  
"Billy, they tried to kill you. I would be afraid of water, too, if that had happened to me. I know you would have never let anything happen to me on purpose." Samantha hugged Billy just to show him that she wasn't mad at him. He squeezed her tight.  
"I'm really sorry," he told her. It had been the scariest thing seeing her in trouble and not being able to help her. He wished he could just hold her forever to make sure nothing ever happened to her again. He kept his arm around her as they walked to the Jeep.  
  
Up on the ship Alagoris, the evil sorcerer Alagor had been watching the whole scene through his Mirror of Sight.  
"Well, well. So William's afraid of water, is he? This presents us with a wonderful opportunity," he said to his army of Wolvenians. "It is time to awaken the monster known as Poseidon." Alagor walked to a basin filled with a blue liquid. He looked deep into it and said, "Find me Poseidon."  
The substance inside the basin began to swirl, several images flashing past, until it stopped on the image of a sleeping beast. It lay on a giant seashell-shaped bed, partially closed off by a seaweed canopy.  
"Poseidon!" Alagor said into the basin. The creature stirred but did not awaken. "Poseidon!" he yelled this time, so loud the basin shook.  
"Huh, w-what..." Poseidon said, jerking awake. He was a very strange- looking creature indeed. He looked like a merman, though with scale-covered legs instead of the traditional fishtail. It looked as though kelp had been piled on top of his head for hair, and his eyes were a yellow-green, the same color of his teeth. Spines stuck up out of his back, and the skin that wasn't covered with scales was a swampy green. "Who's there?" He looked up at a full-length mirror that stood at the front of his bed and saw Alagor's face. "Who are you?" he asked, rubbing his eyes with his webbed hands.  
"My name is Alagor, from the galaxy Exmoridas."  
"Oh yes, I've heard of you. What do you want?"  
"I want you to send your army of Aquinons to capture a Power Ranger."  
"Those blasted Power Rangers are still around? What about Zordon? Oh, how I would love to rap my fins around his neck!"  
"Well, you don't have to worry about Zordon. He's dead."  
"Well, it's about time!" Poseidon said, laughing. "I'm just sorry I didn't get to see it happen. So, who's running the Rangers now?"  
"His brother Zeldon."  
"He's even worse! I'll be glad to help a fellow evil doer, especially one as renowned as you. So, who's this Ranger you want captured?"  
"Samantha Callaghan, the purple Ranger."  
  
The Rangers had returned to The Club, where Samantha had been rapped in a soft purple blanket and was drinking hot chocolate. She felt fine, but the others were still acting like she was a little kid that couldn't take care of herself.  
"Can we get you anything?" Jennifer asked, rubbing Samantha on the back.  
"Would you like another blanket?" said Megan.  
"No, I'm fine. Really."  
Josh, who wasn't saying anything, was still glaring at Billy. He still couldn't believe Billy had just stood there while Samantha was in trouble. Ever since Josh had met Samantha, when she had congratulated him after a win at a martial arts tournament, she had been like a sister to him. This was the only reason Josh hadn't flattened Billy into the ground back at the beach. He knew how much Samantha cared about Billy, and by hurting him, he would have been hurting her as well. Not that Josh didn't like Billy-He knew what a caring and compassionate person he was, especially when it came to Samantha, but after what happened today, Josh didn't know if he could ever trust Billy again.  
Billy, who was sitting next to Samantha, still looking ashamed at what had happened, was about to say something to Josh, try to explain to him about his fear, that he had wanted to save Samantha but had frozen upon getting near the water, but just was he opened his mouth to speak, their communicators went off with the familiar beep.  
Everyone looked at each other, and went back to the bathrooms where they wouldn't be seen or heard. When they were safely out of ear and eyeshot, Josh pushed the button on the side of his communicator.  
"We're here Zeldon. What's up?"  
"Rangers, we have a situation with the Wolvenians. They are attacking..."  
Before Zeldon could finish talking, the Rangers heard screaming. They ran out of their hiding place and saw several people running pass the entrance of The Club.  
"I think we can find them on our own, Zeldon," Randy said.  
"Be careful Rangers. Whenever there are Wolvenians, there's usually one of Alagor's other monsters not far behind."  
"Wait. What about Samantha?" Jennifer asked. "Should she be doing this after what she's been through today?"  
"Guys, I told you I'm fine! Please stop worrying about me."  
"Samantha, are you sure you are all right?" Zeldon asked. This made Samantha even more irritated than what she already was.  
"YES!" she said, her voice sounding louder than she had intended it to. Speaking quieter again as not to draw attention to themselves, she said, "Could we just go and kick these things' butts? If I think I can't handle it, I'll teleport to the Command Center."  
"Right." They went back to their hiding place by the bathrooms.  
"It's Morphin' Time!"  
"Triceratops!" said Billy.  
"Pterodactyl!" went Megan.  
"Mastodon!" Randy said.  
"Saber-Tooth Tiger!" said yellow Ranger Jennifer.  
"Tyrannosaurus!" said Josh.  
And "Stegosaurus!" Samantha said.  
They morphed and teleported out of The Club, and saw ten Wolvenians baring their sharp teeth at the few screaming people that still remained in the streets. Bulk and Skull were huddling together in an alley as a Wolvenian advanced on them.  
"You guys deal with the others," Billy said. "Samantha and I will handle this one," referring to the wolf about to attack his and Samantha's friends.  
"Oh yeah. Let's let you go off with Samantha by yourselves so you can let her get hurt by the Wolvenian?!" the red Ranger said angrily. "I don't think so!"  
"Look, I'm not going to let her get hurt!" the blue Ranger responded, sounding just as mad. He was fed up with Josh treating him like he had let Samantha almost drown on purpose.  
The two Rangers got up in each other's faces and looked as though they were about to start fighting amongst themselves instead of fighting the Wolvenians.  
"Come on Billy. What's you gonna do?" Josh said threateningly, as though daring Billy to hit him. Billy balled his hand into a fist.  
"Billy, don't!" Samantha said, startled. She knew that normally Billy wouldn't even have considered hitting someone, but he had been very protective over Samantha since his return to earth, and she knew Billy wouldn't like being told that he had intentionally endangered her. The purple Ranger put her hand on his shoulder. "Come on, let's help Bulk and Skull." Billy lowered his hand. "Thank you. Now, let's beat these guys, shall we?"  
The blue and purple Rangers went to the aid of Bulk and Skull, while the others battled out in the street. The people who had rushed inside the safety of the shops lining the street, pressed their noses against the windows to watch.  
Samantha pulled out her new weapon, known as Stegosword. She hadn't liked the whip, because she more often hit herself with it rather that the training dummy she had been practiced with it on, so she designed a sword that could be one whole, double-edged blade one minute, than divide into 3 blades that would shoot out at her attacker. She slashed the Wolvenian with the single blade across the stomach, while Billy used the Power Lance from the side, and then split the blade and shot out the three. The blades hit the Wolvenian and sent sparks flying before the wolf disappeared before them, having been defeated.  
"Gosh, I'm good," she boasted, putting the sword, which had regenerated its single blade, away.  
"You guys all right?" Billy asked Bulk and Skull. They nodded their heads, still cowering in each other's arms. Billy would think that as often as they had been attacked by monsters in the past that they would be used to it by now, but clearly, some things never changed. "Alright Samantha, let's go assist the others," he said, which made Samantha smile. She still remembered how he had used big, complicated words- techno speak-when she had first met him, so now that he no longer spoke like that, whenever he would occasionally let his old habit slip, she couldn't help but get a big grin on her face.  
When Billy and Samantha went to join the others, they discovered that they were no longer there.  
"Hey, where did everybody go?" Samantha asked, and Zeldon answered her through her communicator.  
"Alagor teleported the Wolvenians to the beach, and so the other Rangers teleported there as well.  
"The beach? Why would Alagor want the Wolvenians at the beach?" Samantha wondered allowed. "I guess we'll have to go there too." She glanced at Billy and saw that he had gotten an anxious look on his face upon hearing this. "It's okay Billy. It's not like we'll be going in the water. But if you're too uncomfortable , maybe you shouldn't come with me..."  
"No, I'm coming. As long as I don't have to be near the water, I'll be fine," he said, but Samantha could tell by the look in his eyes that he was trying to convince himself more than her.  
"Don't worry Billy. I won't let anything happen." She took his hand to show him she meant it. His body was still stiff with anxiety, but he managed to push the button on his communicator, and they teleported.  
The other Rangers were in major hand-to-hand combat when Billy and Samantha appeared on the beach.  
"It's about time!" Randy yelled, just before he got kicked in the head by a swift-moving wolf. "Ouch! That hurt, Dog Breath!" he said as he got to his feet. He punched the wolf in the gut for retaliation.  
Billy and Samantha separated to go after their own Wolvenians. Billy was fighting a Wolvenian near Josh, and when Josh was shoved into Billy by his wolf, he said, "I see you actually kept Samantha from getting hurt, though she probably did all the fighting, didn't see?"  
"Josh, we don't exactly have time to go over this right now," Billy said, avoiding a side kick from his wolf. "What happened earlier today has nothing to do with what's going on now."  
"Just because you have a stupid fear of water, you let Samantha almost die!" It was amazing how Josh could argue with someone and still fight with something else at the same time.  
"Josh if you don't lay off..." Billy stopped in mid-sentence as the ground began to shake.  
"Earthquake?" said Jennifer.  
"I don't think so..."  
Everyone's attention was drawn toward the ocean as it began to bubble and foam up. The Wolvenians disappeared, just as something came flying out of the ocean.  
"Now what?"  
Landing web-footed on the beach were several creatures that looked oddly like the inhabitants of Aquitar. Billy gasped as he saw them, his heart pounding hard against his chest. His breathing was becoming shallow again, as it had earlier, only this time it was worse. It was as if Alagor had taken the images from his nightmares and made them real. There was even one that looked almost exactly like Cestria. _Oh no! They've come back for me!_ Billy thought. He knew it wasn't true, for he had blown up Aquitar with a weapon he had made to help them, meaning they had all been destroyed, and yet, here stood before him and the other Rangers creatures that looked so much like them.  
Billy thought his knees were about to give out, and they probably would have if the creatures hadn't done something to shock him even more than what he already had been upon seeing them. The creatures shot an ooze- like substance out of their fin hands at all the Rangers but Samantha. At her, before she had a chance to react, they shot some kind of force field that glowed purple, which enclosed her.  
"What's happening..." she managed to say before a horrible fume coming from within the force field caused her to pass out.  
"Samantha!" Billy screamed from his ooze prison, as Samantha fell unconscious to the ground. But this isn't what scared Billy the most. For just as her head hit the sand, the Aquitarian look-alikes picked Samantha up and carried her away into the sea. "No!"  
Elnia appeared in front of them , having teleported from the Command Center. She took out an object, which she used to remove the ooze from the Rangers. As soon as Billy was free, he went running to the foot of the ocean, trying to see if he could spot where the creatures had gone.  
"We have to go after them!" he said, about to run into the water as his heart was filled with the devastating reality of what had just happened to his best friend. "They took Samantha! We have to save her!" Before he could actually enter the water, Randy grabbed him by the arm and held him back.  
"Billy, what are you doing? You'll drown!" Randy said, practically having to drag Billy away from the ocean.  
"I don't care! I can't just stand around and do nothing!"  
"Billy, if you die, you won't be able to do anything!" Megan pleaded.  
"She's right, Billy," Elnia said. "Let's teleport to the Command Center and see if Zeldon knows what's going on."  
Billy was still looking out at the ocean, knowing inside that Megan and Elnia were right, but he still didn't want to just leave. He had no idea what those things were going to do to Samantha, and by the time he and the others figured out what to do, she could already be dead.  
"Come on Billy. We need to go. Samantha may not have much time."  
Billy turned reluctantly away from the sea and he and the others teleported to the Command Center, where they removed their helmets. Zeldon was bent over the control panel, pressing in a bunch of buttons.  
"Zeldon, what's going on?" Jennifer asked.  
"Those fish things took Samantha!" pink Ranger Megan said, her voice sounding panicked.  
"Yes, I know," Zeldon replied, straightening up. "Those creatures that took her are called Aquanons. As Billy may have noticed, they look very much like the people of Aquitar. This is because they are descendants of those people. They were once led by the creature Poseidon, who has been asleep for thousands of years. I believe that Alagor has called upon this beast, which resides in the palace known as Altanticon, which is most likely where they took Samantha."  
"Well, now that we know where she is, let's summon the Zords and go after her!" Josh said.  
"It's not that easy. Atlanticon was made invisible so as not to be found. I am currently trying to find it by searching for Samantha's power reading. And even if we do find it, there is a force field surrounding Atlanticon, which the teleporter, or the Zords, cannot penetrate."  
"Then what are we going to do?"  
"We must deactivate the force field."  
"How?"  
"I have an underwater vehicle that will enable one of you to pass through the force field and into the palace. Once there, you must then find the source of the field and disable it."  
"But who can do it?"  
"The field generator is a highly advanced technology that only one of great intelligence will be able to operate."  
Everyone's eyes turned to Billy, who had sat down out of his shock. He hadn't said anything since they had arrived at the Command Center. He just sat there, his head between his hands.  
"Billy?" Jennifer said. "Are you all right?"  
Billy looked up, and as he did so, they could tell that he was crying.  
"Oh my...Billy, it's okay!" Megan said, putting her hand on his shoulder, but he stood up and pushed her hand away.  
"No, it's not okay!" he said, his voice a mixture of anger and great sadness. His eyes, which were red and puffy from his crying, had lost their brightness, replaced by overwhelming helplessness. Seeing this made the girls want to start crying themselves. "It's my fault that this happened. If I hadn't been afraid of the stupid water, Alagor would have never of done this. He's using my fear against us, I know it! And because of it, I put Samantha in danger."  
"Billy, didn't you hear Zeldon? He said that we can save her, but you have to disable to force field."  
"Oh no, we can't trust him!" Josh said. "He's right. It is his fault this happened. If we send him into the water, he'll start freaking again and we'll never be able to save Samantha!" Billy looked at him, anger blazing in his eyes.  
"Josh, I am sick and tired of you acting like I let this happen on purpose! Yes, I was stupid for letting my fear stop me from saving Samantha from the ocean earlier, but that was then, this is now. Do you really think I'd let some stupid phobia stop me from going after her?"  
"Yeah, I do!"  
Billy and Josh were right up in each other's faces and it honestly looked as though this time they were going to start fighting. Luckily, before either could do anything, Elnia stepped between them.  
"Guys, this is not the time to be arguing over who cares more about Samantha," she said. "Josh, you need to drop it and leave Billy alone. You're afraid of spiders. What if a giant spider had attacked Samantha?" Josh cringed. He couldn't stand spiders, and even if someone just mentioned them, he got all clammy. "Would you have been able to do anything?"  
"Yeah...Well, probably...I don't know," Josh admitted, lowering his head in shameful embarrassment.  
"Exactly. You can't say how you would act, because you have never been put in that type of situation. Billy couldn't control himself. Something terrible happened to him on a planet covered in water. If something like that would have happened to you, you would probably be afraid of water as well."  
"Yeah, I guess that's true, but still..."  
"Still what? Billy is the only one who can disable the force field. We have to trust him. If we don't, Samantha is doomed. Can you trust him?"  
Josh looked at Billy. Elnia had a point. They had to trust each other, for if they didn't, the whole team was bound to fall apart. He knew that Billy cared about Samantha, probably more so than himself, and knew that he would give his life to save her. He took a deep breath.  
"Yeah, I can trust him. I'm sorry, Billy. I was just so scared that something bad would happen to Samantha that I didn't even think what might have been going on in your head. You went through a lot, and I know you would never intentionally let anything bad happen to her. Can you forgive me for being such a jerk?" Josh extended his hand.  
"Affirmative," Billy said, and he and Josh shook hands.  
"Great! Now that that's taken care of, let's work on trying to save Samantha!"  
Just then, papers began to print off, which Zeldon immediately began to read. When he was done, he did not smile, but you could tell by his eyes that he was happy about something. He looked at the Rangers.  
"I have locked down the location of Samantha."  
  
The palace of Atlanticon was a vast place. It looked like an underwater castle, with many towers and turrets, stretching across the seafloor for miles. The walls appeared to be made of seashells, their rainbow colors causing strange and beautiful light patterns to be reflected through the many halls and corridors leading off to well over 100 chambers. One could easily get lost in a place like this.  
Samantha opened her eyes, having just regained consciousness. She found that she lay in darkness, and began to panic. Slowly, her mind began to register that she was lying on a bed, which was closed off by a canopy. The bed was huge, so big in fact that it took her a few minutes to find the opening of the canopy, which seemed to be made of seaweed, and peer out. The strange rainbow lights hurt her eyes until they became use to the wavy affect caused by the water, which Samantha could see through enormous windows that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. She gasped as she saw a giant shark, a great white, swim into view.  
"Where am I?" she asked aloud. A cruel voice answered her.  
"You are in the palace known as Atlanticon."  
Samantha whipped around and saw none other than Alagor, with his shockingly pale skin and his soulless black eyes, looking directly at her.  
"What do you want?" Samantha said, raising her fists and preparing to fight.  
"For you to join the dark side."  
"Oh please! Watched Star Wars a few too many times, have you?"  
"Star Wars? What is this Star Wars?" said a creature that had come up behind Alagor. He looked like a merman, only with legs instead of a fishtail.  
"Okay, what the heck are you?" Samantha asked, fist still raised.  
"This, my dear, is Poseidon, the ruler of Atlanticon. It is his bed that he kindly let you sleep on."  
"Really? Well, how sweet of him," she said sarcastically. "I don't know why the heck you've kidnapped me, but I can tell you that the other Rangers will be coming for me, so you had better let me go." Alagor and Poseidon started laughing.  
"You're little friends won't be able to help you dear. This place is invisible, and even if Zeldon is able to locate it, the Rangers will never be able to get through the force field surrounding it. Now, you can either join our side on your own accord, or we'll do it the hard way." The fish people who had kidnapped her entered the room and surrounded Samantha.  
"No offence dude, but I'd rather make out with fish-guy there than join your side."  
"Have it your way then. Poseidon, you do the honors."  
"Aquinons, seize her!" Poseidon said, and the Aquinons came at her.  
Samantha flipped and dodged, punched and kicked, but she still couldn't keep herself from being caught by the fish creatures. They grabbed her by the arms with their scale-covered hands and held her still.  
"Let go of me, Fish-Brains!" she screamed, struggling to shake them loose so she could morph, but they maintained their grip. Alagor came toward her.  
"Say what you want now, Samantha, because when you wake up, you'll worship me." He held in his hand a flat, circular device, which he held in front of Samantha's face. Out of it came a bright light, which was the last thing Samantha saw before she became unconscious again.  
  
The AquiDiver slowly raised out of the floor of the Command Center. The Rangers hadn't thought it was possible for a cave to have a retracting floor, but that was before Zeldon had explained that the Command Center wasn't really a cave, that it was in fact just an illusion to fool those from the outside. He had liked the look so much that he had decided to make the inside look like a cave as well.  
"Oh," Randy had said, scratching his head after hearing this. He hit his fist on the wall of the Command Center. "Ouch! It sure feels like real rock to me," he exclaimed, rubbing his now red fist.  
The AquiDiver looked like a giant robot fish, with scale designs on its outer hall and fins that really moved.  
"This is amazing, Zeldon," Billy said, running his hands over it. "You made this?"  
"Yes," Zeldon said, a proud twinkle in his eyes. "It's quite popular in the future. Every year there is an annual AquiDiver race. I choose not to use them for that myself, but I do rather enjoy watching the race."  
"Yeah, especially when someone wipes out," Elnia said, which made Zeldon blush.  
"Well, enough of this talk about the future. We have a Ranger to save. Billy, you remember what I told you about the controls?" Zeldon said as Billy opened the hatch in the submersible and got it.  
"Yes. It is quite a simple process. I should manage fine."  
"Good. There is enough air supply for only a few hours, so you must find Atlanticon as quickly as possible. It may be invisible, but using the coordinates I gave you, you should be able to find it. When you are there, you will find a resistance in the water that will allow the AquiDiver to move no farther. This will be the force field surrounding Atlanticon. Activate the penetrating system and cross through the force field. Once you are there, find the field generator and disable it. Then find Samantha. Deactivating the force field will allow me to teleport you both back here."  
"Alright Zeldon. I won't let you down." Billy went to close the hatch, but Zeldon placed his hand on his shoulder.  
"Are you sure you're going to be okay? You'll be submerged in water for quite a long time."  
"Yes Zeldon. Samantha is more important to me than anything, and I won't let some fear stop me from saving her."  
"Alright. Are you ready?"  
"Affirmative," Billy said, and closed the hatch.  
"Commencing teleportation now." Zeldon pressed the buttons on the console, and teleported Billy into the ocean.  
"Billy, can you hear me?" Elnia's voice said through the speakers.  
"Loud and clear."  
"Good," came Zeldon's voice. "Does everything seem to be in order? Any malfunctions?"  
"Negative. Everything is working fine," Billy replied, beginning to operate the controls.  
"I teleported you as close to the location of Atlanticon as I could. If you keep going west, you should find it very soon."  
"Thank you Zeldon. Alright Samantha, I'm coming," Billy said to himself. "I just hope you're okay."  
  
When Samantha awoke again, she was strapped to a chair. Her arms and legs were tied down so tight, she couldn't move at all. The room she was in was completely empty, except for the chair she sat in. Over her, attached to the chair, was a device obviously meant to be placed on her head.  
"Oh no..." She thought as what it was probably used for registered with her.  
"Oh yes," came Alagor's cold, icy voice as he entered the room, flanked by Poseidon.  
"You're going to do to me what you did to Billy, aren't you?"  
"Oh, you truly are a smart one. It will be such a joy to have you on our team. Especially when we tap into those hidden powers of yours."  
"Oh god, you just won't drop it with that power thing, will you? Okay, fine. I have a power, and right now I'm going to use it to blow up your head." She started squinting her eyes tightly, looking as though she was concentrating with all her might. When nothing happened, she relaxed her face. "See, I told you I don't have powers. Can you let me go now?" She smiled innocently at them.  
"Very funny, Miss Callaghan, but I'm afraid I can't do that."  
"Well, even if you do turn me evil, Billy will just break the spell, like I did with him."  
"How stupid do you think I am? Do you really think I would make the same mistake twice? You see, the reason you were able to break the spell on Billy was merely because I made the mistake of just covering up his memories, instead of erasing them completely. I did a few modifications on my Mind-Warp. After I use it on you, you will have no memories of Billy or the others."  
Alagor began walking slowly toward her. Samantha struggled as hard as she could against her restraints, but it was hopeless. Fear began to flood through her body, more so than it had when she had almost drowned. _Somebody help me! Billy, please!_ But she knew no one would come. Even if the Rangers could find her, it would be too late.  
  
Billy had been searching the ocean in the AquiDiver for what seemed liked hours now. He kept going west, as Zeldon had told him, but he still hadn't found the location of Atlanticon. He was beginning to feel claustrophobic, sweat developing on his face. Every minute he was in the submersible, he could swear it was closing in on him. He feared the glass would shatter and water would come rushing in and drown him. _Stop it! Stop thinking like that!_ he told himself. _You have to find Samantha. But what if I don't? What if I run out of air and we both die down here?  
_ Billy felt himself begin to panic. _Josh was right. I can't handle this. This is just too much for me. I..._ Suddenly, the AquiDiver stopped moving, At first, Billy thought that the engine may have died, but then he realized that the ship's "fins" were still moving, meaning that the engine was still operational. He pushed forward on the controls, but the sub wouldn't budge.  
"Hey Zeldon," Billy said. "I think I may have found it."  
"Yes Billy, I believe you're right," said Zeldon through the AquiDiver's transmitter. "I have that you are located not far from where the sensors picked up Samantha's power reading. Now, just activate the penetrating system and go through the force field."  
"Right." Billy gave a sigh of relief. He was so thankful that he had finally found Atlanticon. He didn't know how much longer he would have been able to last stuck inside the AquiDiver.  
Billy pressed a button on the controls, and felt the sub vibrate slightly as the penetrating system was activated. He took a deep breath and once again pressed forward on the controls. Slowly, the AquiDiver moved through the force field.  
  
Deep inside Atlanticon, Alagor had placed his hands on the device that sat above Samantha's head. He was about to place it upon her, Samantha looking at him with fear in her eyes, when an alarm started going off.  
"What the..." Alagor said, stopping his movement.  
"We have an intruder, sir," said an Aquinon.  
"Damn it! Well, it seems you have been bought a little more time with your memory. Not much though, because as soon as I take care of this insolence, I will finish with you," Alagor said, touching Samantha's chin, who pulled her head away from his touch. "Let's go!" Alagor, Poseidon, and the Aquinons left the room.  
Samantha continued to struggle at her restraints, despite the fact that they cut into her arms and legs every time she pulled on them. Finally, as blood began to appear where the restraints held her, she slumped back, exhausted.  
"I give up," she said, and her exhaustion was soon being replaced by sadness. "The next time I see Billy, I won't even remember him. I'll probably try to kill him like he did with me, only this time, he won't be able to stop it." She began to cry.  
"I wouldn't be so sure of that."  
Samantha, startled by the voice, looked up and saw Billy. Right away, her tears vanished.  
"Oh my God! Billy! How did you find me?" she asked as Billy ran to her and began to undo the restraints.  
"I used a submersible Zeldon made."  
"You went underwater? What about your fear?"  
"You're more important than some stupid fear." They looked into each other's green eyes. "I am so sorry for letting it keep me from saving you before. I will never let anything bad happen to you again." Samantha stood up, having been freed of the restraints, and she and Billy hugged.  
They stayed in each other's arms for the longest time, almost forgetting that there were things that were searching for Billy at that very moment, However, Alagor's voice ringing through the corridors brought them out of their little world.  
"Search down there! He used Zeldon's stupid AquiDiver to get here. He'll be looking for Samantha!"  
"Uh oh...I think it's time to go," Samantha said, as she and Billy moved apart. She went to press the button on her communicator to teleport out.  
"Wait! That won't work. Zeldon can't teleport us out because of the force field."  
"What? Then what are we going to do?"  
"We have to find the field generator and disable it. Only then will we be able to teleport out."  
"Well, let's find the thing!"  
They ran out into the hall.  
"Do you know where it is?" Samantha asked.  
"No, not exactly."  
"Then where should we look?" There were two corridors leading off in opposite directions.  
"This way?" Billy said, gesturing toward the corridor that went to the right.  
"Why not?" But just as they started down the corridor, two Aquinons came at them from that direction. "I think that's a reason why!" They ran back to the other corridor and ran down it."  
"They went that way!" said the Aquinons that had seen them.  
"Oh crap! We have to hide somewhere."  
"Where?" Samantha asked.  
"In there," Billy answered, whispering as not to reveal to the Aquinons their location.  
Billy and Samantha ran into a room off the corridor and shut the door behind them as quietly as they could. They stayed still, listening intently, until they heard the Aquinons run past them.  
"Whoa, that was close...Wow." Billy said, his eyes growing wide as he saw what was in the room with them.  
"Billy, what is it?" Samantha asked, but as she turned around to see what he was looking at, she saw very clearly what it was.  
They were looking at a giant computer, so big that it stretched all the way to the ceiling. There were thousands of buttons on the console, each a different color. A soft humming sound was coming from it, and Samantha and Billy could feel a power radiating from it.  
"I think we may have found the field generator," Billy said, walking up to the control panel. "I've never seen a computer with so many intricate parts."  
"You will be able to figure it out, right?" Samantha asked, peering over his shoulder.  
"I think so, but I'll need your help, and it will still take some time."  
"Well, I'm afraid your time has ran out!"  
Samantha and Billy whipped around and saw themselves facing Alagor, Poseidon, and the Aquinons.  
"Seize them!"  
"Billy?" They looked at each other and nodded.  
"It's Morphin' Time!"  
"Triceratops!"  
"Stegosaurus!"  
They morphed just as they were attacked by the Aquinons. Samantha could hold them off a lot better now than when she had not been morphed. Unfortunately, she still took a couple of punches, as well as a kick in the stomach. When she feel to the ground, Billy ran to her.  
"Samantha, I'll handle these guys. You need to try and figure out how to disable the force field."  
"What? You know you're way better with computers than I am."  
"I know, but I'm stronger than you are, so I can hopefully hold back the Aquinons long enough for you to shut down the force field. If you have to, just punch in a bunch of buttons."  
"Isn't that taking the chance of blowing this whole place up?"  
"Yes, but at least if that happens, we'll take out Alagor and Poseidon."  
Samantha nodded her head in agreement. She didn't like the thought of being blown up, but it would take care of a major problem. She just hoped that it wouldn't happen for her and Billy's sake, especially for Billy.  
She got to her feet and dodged a couple of Aquinons to get to the computer. She could hear Billy getting attacked by the Aquinons, but she didn't turn around. Even if they didn't blow up, if she didn't at least disable to force field, they were going to die anyway. The first couple of buttons didn't do anything, but when she pressed a big blue button, a voice sounded over speakers that were obviously placed somewhere out of sight.  
"Self-destruct mode activated," a computer voice said.  
"Holy Heck!" Samantha said, starting to panic.  
She started pushing a bunch of buttons all at once, all the while, the computer voice counted down, "FIFTEEN, FOURTEEN, THIRTEEN" seconds until the entire place self-destructed.  
"Oh, shut up!" she yelled at the voice.  
Just as the countdown had reached five seconds, Samantha hit a button on the far right of the console, honestly thinking it was useless. At first nothing happened and the countdown continued. But then, when all the color had drained from Samantha's body, the computer voice came back over the speakers.  
"Self-destruct mode terminated."  
"What?!" Samantha said, her body filled with shocked happiness. "Oh my God! Thank you! Thank you!" She started jumping up and down.  
"Hey, Samantha," Billy said, who was still trying his best to keep the Aquinons from getting to her, as well as protecting himself. "If it's not too much trouble, could you go back to trying to disable the field?"  
"Oh, sorry!" she said, blushing. "Okay, just remember what Billy taught you about computers," she said to herself.  
She looked at all the buttons, none of them meaning a thing to her, until her eyes stopped on a small red one. It didn't look any different than any of the others, but for some reason, she just had a feeling about it. "Alright, here goes nothing." She pressed it, just as the Aquinons threw Billy to the floor.  
A small vibrating went through all of Atlanticon, and Samantha at first thought that she had set off the manual self-destruct mode, but then, a weird light that Samantha could see through the windows, which made the water outside look foggy, disappeared, and suddenly everything was clear beyond the windows.  
"I think you did it," Billy said, as the Aquinons, who had stopped advancing on them when the vibrating had started, were about to continue their attack.  
"There's only one way to find out." Samantha called Zeldon through her communicator. "Hey Zeldon, is the field down?"  
"The readings here say you were indeed successful," Zeldon answered.  
"Then get us out of here!"  
Before the Aquinons had a chance to grab them, and before they were teleported, Samantha reached back and hit the blue button that had started the self-destruct mode, and when she did, it restarted with the few seconds that had been left on the countdown from before.  
"See you. Or maybe not," Samantha said, and she and Billy were gone.  
"Damn you Zeldon!" Alagor yelled.  
  
Billy and Samantha appeared in the Command Center and took off their helmets. The other Rangers were still in their costumes as well.  
"That was awesome!" Randy said, slapping Samantha on the back.  
"Yeah, really cool," said Jennifer.  
"How do you even know what happened?" Samantha asked.  
"We watched on the Viewing Globe. Come check it out."  
Billy and Samantha looked at the Viewing Globe, and saw a giant explosion take place in the water.  
"Good thinking restarting that," Billy said, smiling at the purple Ranger. Samantha blushed and smiled back.  
"Well, that takes care of Alagor. Well, being a Ranger was fine while it lasted," pink Ranger Megan said.  
"Alagor is far from taken care of," Zeldon said, looking very grave.  
"What? What do you mean?" Josh asked. "Samantha just blew the dude up!"  
"She did manage to destroy Atlanticon and the Aquinons, but unfortunately, Alagor teleported himself, as well as Poseidon, out before the explosion."  
"Great! So all that was for nothing."  
Just then, the alarm signaling danger went off, and on the Viewing Globe appeared Poseidon. He was standing on the beach, only to stay his normal size for a few seconds. A lightening bolt came out of the sky and struck him, which caused him to grow to over seventy-feet tall.  
"Oh no, not again!"  
"Here we go again," said Josh. "Back into action!"  
  
Back on the beach, the Rangers looked up at the giant merman.  
"I think we may need some help from our Zords."  
"Right."  
"We need DinoZord Power, now!" they said in unison.  
Out of the sky came their Zords, and as soon as they touch down on the earth, the Rangers came together to form the MegaZord.  
"Hey, remember us?" Samantha said from the MegaZord cockpit.  
"How could I forget?" boomed Poseidon. "Time to finish you off for good!"  
The Rangers and Poseidon went head to head, matching each other's moves fairly easily. The Rangers were about to summon the Power Sword when Poseidon picked them up and threw the MegaZord into the ocean. Unfortunately, as the Zord hit the water, Samantha was knocked out of the cockpit and into the ocean.  
"Samantha!" Billy said. "Guys, I'm going after her."  
"Wait Billy. What about the water?" asked Josh.  
"Don't worry about that. I'll be fine." Billy jumped from the cockpit and into the ocean.  
At first, Billy couldn't find Samantha. She was no where to be seen. But then, Billy saw her break the surface of the water and swam after her. She was panicking so much that she kept going under. Billy had to grab a hold off her to keep her from slipping beneath the surface again. Unfortunately, she had swallowed quite a bit of water and had become unconscious.  
"Oh no Samantha, don't you die on me." He swam her back to the shore as fast as he could.  
Billy lay her on her back. He looked and saw that the other Rangers had managed to get the MegaZord back to shore as well, but he was too concerned with saving his best friend. He put his ear to her mouth to listen to her breathing, but there was nothing, so he began to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Luckily, after only a few forced breaths, Samantha sputtered and coughed, and began to breathe on her own again.  
"Oh, thank god," Billy said, pulling Samantha into a hug.  
"You saved my life again, didn't you," Samantha said, smiling.  
"Are you all right?"  
"Affirmative," Samantha said, which made both she and Billy laugh. "I just can't pull it off, can I?"  
"No, not really." Billy's eyes were regaining their twinkle as he realized Samantha was all right.  
"Well, if it's all right with you, I think we should get back in the Zord."  
"Yeah, you're right." Billy helped her get to her feet, and they teleported back into the MegaZord.  
"Samantha, are you okay?" Megan asked.  
"Yes. And I'll be even better once we destroy Fish-Dude here."  
"I think it's time for the Power Sword."  
They summoned the sword, and with one slash of it across Poseidon's chest, he exploded in a shower of sparks.  
"Morphenomenal," they all said together, after which they couldn't stop laughing.  
  
It was another sunny day, and the Rangers had decided to go surfing again, and this time Billy had decided to come along.  
"But what about you phobia?" Jennifer asked, holding on to her yellow surfboard.  
"I think I've pretty much have gotten over that. After what Samantha went through, I realized how stupid it was to be afraid of water, when the thing I fear most is losing my best friend, or any of my friends for the matter," Billy said, pulling Samantha into a one-armed hug.  
"I would think Samantha would be afraid of water after all that," Randy said, waxing the last part of his black surfboard.  
"Hey, if anything, it made me want to be in the water even more, because after I almost drowned twice, I realized I'm not as experienced in the water as I should be. I know I have to be prepared if a situation like that happens again. And besides, I've always loved the water, so I'm not going to let some bad experience stop me from doing what I love. After all, if Billy had done that, I wouldn't still be here."  
"She's right Billy," Josh said. "You were the total hero. Here I was, being a total jerk to you, and you were the one that saved Samantha all those times, despite that fact that you could have been killed yourself. I definitely see why you were chosen to be a Ranger."  
"Thanks, man," Billy said, smiling.  
"I mean, I doubt I could have done what you did," Josh continued.  
"Yes, you would have."  
Billy and Josh gave each other understanding looks, showing that their anger toward one another was completely gone. They truly did trust each other now, and this trust, the trust between them and the others, as Rangers and most importantly, as people, would be what would keep this team together.  
  
THE END 


End file.
